Photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanThe former Mastex Indugries building, seen here, has been chosen by the state as the home of the proposed new high performance computing center in Holyoke.

HOLYOKE – Robert W. Gilbert Jr. got a phone call on Tuesday from a business man in the Worcester area who manufactures computer batteries and is interested in moving here because of the planned high performance computing center.

“Hopefully, he has the capital to locate here. But that’s a perfect example of what my feeling is about the spin-off effect,” said Gilbert, an official with Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce.

They cited pluses such as the economic-development tangibility of new businesses coming here to be around the computing center, the uniqueness of Holyoke being home to such a venture, and the prestige of being linked to center partners such as Harvard University.

That came a day after Gov. Deval L. Patrick here announced the world-class research facility will be built at the former Mastex Industries Inc. property on Bigelow Street.

“I think that’s good. Right now, I think that’s good, to bring more jobs for the people,” said Hector Manguel, manager of the Bodega 24 convenience store at High and Hampden streets.

“I expect more customers, that’s what I expect. That’s good, something good that’s going to bring more jobs. The city can use it,” said Rafael Fernandez, owner of Fernandez Family Restaurant on High Street.

The partners in the computing center are the state, the University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Northeastern University in Boston and Harvard.

Also partners are Cisco Systems Inc., of San Jose, Calif., a computer networking giant, and EMC Corp., of Hopkinton, an information storage, backup and recovery firm.

Construction on the center will begin in the fall and take about two years, officials said.

Colleges and industry use computer centers to do blazing-fast research of enormous amounts of data on everything from climate control to the human immune system.

When MIT began seeking such a facility more than a year ago, officials said, Holyoke became an option. The lure was the low-cost energy and cooling nature that numerous high-performing computers can get at the canals thanks to the hydroelectric dam that is owned by the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department.

Having such a significant facility choose Holyoke because of the hydroelectric capabilities is bound to help the city market itself, City Council President Joseph M. McGiverin said.

“I think that is a big plus,” McGiverin said.

Indeed, said chamber president, Doris M. Ransford, housing a computer center that has ties to the world-famous Harvard University should help in distinguishing Holyoke in the market place.

“Every city is vying with every other city,” Ransford said.

Another advantage that the past year of planning of the project has yielded is the links established between Holyoke Community College and the partnership’s colleges, HCC President William F. Messner said.

“The synergy that this project has generated, and the activity it will create, can’t be anything other than unequivocally good for Holyoke,” Messner said.

Amid the high hopes, don’t forget the little people, said Wigberto “Tito” Santana. He is interim co-director of Nuestras Raices (“Our Roots”), a nonprofit social service agency here that works with the thousands of people, mostly Hispanic, who live in poverty.

In order for the computing center to benefit the whole community, he said, officials should try to build ties by holding meetings in community rooms and churches, at least to explain the project.

“And not just sending a letter, but making a real effort. Something happening of this magnitude will definitely have an effect,” Santana said.

Glenn E. Shealey, of Rhode Island, is manager of Quantum Properties, which in the past few years has acquired more than half a dozen distressed properties in the canal area. The plan is for commercial-industrial redevelopment, he said, and though the firm arrived before anyone heard of the computing center, that project strengthens its desire to do business here.